Lacouture, M.E., Mitchell, E.P., Piperdi, B., Pillai, M.V., Shearer, H., Iannotti, N., . . . Yassine, M. (2010). Skin toxicity evaluation protocol with panitumumab (STEPP), a phase II, open-label, randomized trial evaluating the impact of a pre-emptive skin treatment regimen on skin toxicities and quality of life in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 28, 1351–1357.
To examine the difference in incidence of specific grade 2 or higher skin toxicities of interest between patients with metastatic colorectal cancer in preemptive and reactive skin treatment groups during a six-week treatment period that included epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors (EGFR-Is).
Eligible patients were randomly assigned to preemptive or reactive skin treatment arms. The chemotherapy regimen schedule was a random assignment stratification factor.
The preemptive skin treatment regimen was administered beginning on day –1 (one day before the administration of the first panitumumab dose) and continued through weeks 1 to 6.
Clinical and experimental data suggest that four major alterations occur in the skin of patients treated with EGFR-Is: follicular and interfollicular inflammation, bacterial superinfection, dry skin, and sensitivity to ultraviolet (UV) radiation. The rationale for selection of the preemptive skin regimen was based on those four alterations. The preemptive skin treatment regimen comprised the following.
The reactive skin treatment regimen comprised any treatments the investigator deemed necessary for the management of emergent skin toxicity and could be administered anytime during weeks 1 to 6. Patients randomly assigned to the reactive skin treatment group were not prohibited from using skin moisturizer or sunscreen at any time during the treatment if they chose to do so.
All patients were monitored weekly from weeks 1 to 7 for compliance with the randomized skin treatment regimen and for skin toxicity assessment.
Patients were undergoing the active treatment phase of care.
This was a phase 2, multicenter, open-label, randomized clinical trial.
The preemptive skin treatment regimen was well tolerated. The incidence of specific grade 2 or higher skin toxicities during the six-week skin treatment period was lower in the preemptive skin treatment group compared with the reactive skin treatment group.
The findings supported the importance of establishing a preemptive, comprehensive skin treatment regimen in patients treated with panitumumab to decrease skin toxicities and improve QOL. The skin toxicities are considered a class-based effect; therefore, these results may be generalized to other EGFR-Is.